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The S&P Should Beat These Stocks Today

Profit taking and company acquisitions have these majors on the back foot.

LONDON -- Stocks are starting the week flat to slightly lower in Europe Monday. Last week's rally is dying as hopes of a U.S. stimulus package following disappointing nonfarm-payroll numbers are offset by disappointing Chinese trade data posted overnight: Imports fell 2.6% in July. Although Asian markets fell initially after the release, they bounced back heading into the European day amid some speculation that, in a similar fashion to the U.S. data, these disappointing numbers may bring the Chinese government to implement some form of stimulus. Futures trading has Wall Street set to follow the European markets lower today, with the S&P 500(INDEX: ^GSPC) down around 0.2%.

Amid this weak performance, some stocks are being hit especially hard. Here are three ADRs the S&P should beat today.

Anheuser-Busch InBev(NYSE: BUD)The brewing giant and maker of Stella Artois is down around 2.5% today, hit as a broader sell-off in food and beverage makers takes hold. The company made decent headway last week, benefiting from a move toward defensive stocks amid uncertainty early in the week and holding as Friday's nonfarm-payroll numbers raised hopes of a U.S. stimulus package.

France Telecom(NYSE: FTE)The French telecom giant is down more than 1.1% in Paris today, seeing profit-taking and consolidation after last week's decent performance. The company has seen some positive trade over the last few sessions since it won EU approval -- along with its Everything Everywhere partner Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica's O2 unit, and the U.K.'s Vodafone(NYSE: VOD) -- to create a new mobile-phone payment platform in the U.K. The EU said that the formation of this new "mobile wallet" service should not degrade the quality of other similar services, nor does it represent a limit to competition, and so it could be approved.

SAP(NYSE: SAP)The German software company is down almost 1% in Frankfurt today amid news that its strategic partner Infosys, India's second-largest software exporter, agreed to buy Swiss management-consulting company Lodestone Holding for 330 million Swiss francs in order to diversify its business. Infosys said that after the purchase, its consulting practice that focuses on SAP's software will have revenue in excess of $1 billion.

As usual, this morning's European trading saw some stocks lose ground -- and perhaps provide some European buying opportunities. Indeed, legendary investor Warren Buffett has recently spent more than $1 billion buying a European large-cap stock that's currently trading well below its 2012 high.